Golf Cake Upgrade!

     Ok, so yes, it has been almost an entire summer since I've typed up any fun for you. Firstly, I apologize.  Secondly, I have SO much to share with you. I'm going to start with a project I undertook for my Dad's surprise 60th birthday. The additional motivation for this is the fact that a similar golf themed cake project I put on Pinterest previously has the most re-pins out of any so far!
     Now, due to the fact that my "to-do" list for the party was super long, I went with cake mix boxes. (I know, the horror!) I did, however, add some bags of dark chocolate chips to the dark chocolate cake mix. It's always fun and easy to add a little pizzazz to plain old box mixes. The picture of the finished project in my head was a pretty big one- so I bought four boxes of mix. This ended up making me a total of 7 different sized cakes.

Yes, I can count…7th cake was already cooled and out of the pan!

     The next step was to pair a frosting with my dark chocolate and chocolate chip cake. My dad is a huge fan of the dark chocolate and orange flavor pairing, so that gave me some direction. I went with a cream cheese frosting with real orange kick. You can find it on Liz's blog Love Grows Wild here: Kick butt frosting

I doubled the recipe and ABSOLUTELY fell in love. The real orange zest and juice make all the difference. Here are a few shots of the frosting creation process: 

      

Such beauty from little flecks of orange!

      The cakes and the frosting were made the night before and BOTH were refrigerated for the night. If you need to shape and stack cakes it helps a lot to have them cold when you work with them. The size of the cake also inspired me to attempt fondant.  I took a wonderful stroll down the baking aisles at my favorite Michael's and came away with fondant, gum paste, and some edible glitter. (WHAT?!?!) I know, how do you pass up glittery things that are even edible?!?! The next morning I started working on the exact formation of the cakes. The idea was to make the cake in the shape of a hill with the tee at the top and the hole at the bottom. Each cake was placed and then given a layer of orange frosting. (see crumb coat)

                                                                

     While this cooled (again) in the fridge I started working with the fondant. Again, remember the long to-do list. So I purchased my favorite cake man's fondant in bright green and gave it a quick warm up in the microwave. 

     Fondant needs to be rolled out quite thin (1/8 inch). I highly suggest either cornstarch or confectioner's sugar on your work surface before you start rolling. Let me tell you, my arms were aching by the end of this. It made me wish I had one of those fancy rolling machines…*sigh* oh well, moving on. Once the fondant is rolled out you need to move quickly and accurately. 

     You don't get a second chance with it. Place it in the right place and move quickly. Smooth out your fondant and make sure it nicely wraps all of your cake. 

     From here on out it's all fun and decorating, ahem, for the most part. There were only a few moments of panic and "I have no clue what I'm doing" thoughts. I used the gum paste to form two golf balls and a golf tee. (A chopstick was a great tool for making the little indentations of the golf balls) These were set to the side to dry. Gum paste turns hard as rock once it has been set out. While these dried I moved to a bit of decorative icing with your regular old sugary green icing and a star tip for grass. 

     Thicker grass was completed and then I set out to create my sand traps. Say what? Well, of course the golf course needs sand traps! So I pulled out my trusty box of Nilla Wafers, got a ziplock bag, and started smashing. 

     The convenience of the ziplock bag is the ability to just cut the corner with scissors for easier and more precise placement. In order to have my "sand" stick, I cut out the fondant in the spaces for my sand traps. 

     Now to the part you were all waiting for….GLITTER. Ok, so the part I was waiting for. You can dust the glitter on as it is or you can paint with it. I chose to paint with it. The trick is, you want to put it in a liquid that will evaporate quickly. (Cue the alcohol!!) Vodka is actually the perfect liquid to use to mix the glitter, as it dries very quickly when painted on thin. 

     The golf balls and tee got white glitter and the area I planned as the green was given a coating of green glitter. 

yay for sparkles! 

       The final assembly involved placing both of the golf balls on the cake. One went in some longer grass and one went into the hole in the green. The tee also went into the longer grass at the top of the cake. The flag for the green was textured paper rolled around a thinner wooden dowel with the words Happy Birthday! Voila! A fun golf themed cake with a few extra 60's thrown in! 

     ….Aaaaand just for fun here is a shot of the watermelon that honors what my father looks like any time he is in his recliner! 

     Last, but not least is a sneak peak of the next post. Straying far away from food and moving over to the DIY home organization category. 

     Keep your eyes peeled for a fun take on a $10 crate from Wal-Mart. I'm just crossing my fingers that it turns out nicely enough that the hubby can't say "I told you so!" As always, thanks for the read and stop on by soon. I swear this next one won't take so long! :) 

<3 

A Departure from Food: Attempting to Revitalize a Green Thumb

     Now, if you ask the hubby, he will most likely tell you that I never had a green thumb to begin with. The plants I try to keep alive, die; and the plants I try to kill, live forever. It's a gift…I guess…This is why I waited to create this post. I wanted to make sure things were…ahem…alive for a bit. I am pleased to announce that they are, but I give you permission to laugh at that statement. :)
      On a whim one weekend, I decided to finally attempt a display for the bay window in our kitchen. I  scurried around our house collecting a random variety of types of glassware and then headed out to the store. Here is what I came back with:

       Ok, so technically I already had the stones in my craft room. The rest, however, I bought at the store. You may laugh now. Yes, I am bragging that I have kept succulents alive for a month. We all have our strengths and weaknesses people. ANYWAY, because my glassware did not have holes in the bottom, I read that I needed to have an alternate form of drainage. See- stones. Each jar/vase/glass got a base of stones at the bottom. This way, when I water them the roots don't sit in the moisture. It can drain down between the stones.

          After this, I put some of the special cactus soil in each container. With a few different alterations, I settled on how I wanted to distribute the plants to each glass. I have to say, for a first attempt, I'm pleased with the results.

 

       Again, let me say, they are all still alive and thriving. (On one shot glass of water a week might I add!!!) I just read a fun pin on adding food coloring to the water and how it affects the succulents. I may actually give that a try just for the fun of it! Check back to see results later! In the meantime, here is  the window sill of my bay window in the kitchen. Not too shabby to begin with. And again. Alive. :) 

         I am officially half way through Spring Break and enjoying some much needed relaxation! I'm hoping to share a staining project with you soon. However, the weather is not cooperating currently. As soon as I get a nice, warm, Spring day - I'll be all over it! In the meantime, enjoy the beginning of Spring and a good chuckle at my "green thumb's" expense. 

     <3 

Craft: Welcome to Our Home

     As promised, today brings a craft post! FINALLY.

     When someone goes to their happy place they may picture their feet in the sand, with the crashing of waves on the beach. Or perhaps you go to a forest with sunlight streaming through the leaves and the sounds of birds chirping around you.
     I go to Michael's. That's right. Don't judge. The smell of craft supplies and endless varieties of options makes me excited and relaxed all at once. For a few brief shining moments, Michael's had a Membership Rewards program. In the few months that it existed, I made it to Gold member status.

I SAID DON'T JUDGE. haha.

Let's face it. I LOVE crafts and would empty my bank account on crafts if I could.

     With that being said, I have been eager to create things for decor in our new house. I lucked out on a recent trip to Michael's and knew just what I wanted to do. As I browsed Michael's to refresh some calligraphy materials for a wedding order, I happened upon these simple dudes.

     For $0.99 I got myself two wooden frames that fit a 5x7 image. Our front door has had an empty hook for the last 4 months and this was going to fix that! While these are adorable, they are also slightly blah.
     My first step was to change their coloring. I knew I wanted to keep the integrity of the wood, and I also had no official stain. I had read various posts on using tea to stain things. So I got myself a mug of very concentrated tea.

     To apply the tea, I used one of those $1 foam wedge "brushes." WARNING. After about 4-5 coats of tea you could barely tell the difference and my patience was slowly slipping away from me. Understatement, my patience was gone. I thought through my options and refused the option of going to buy stain or paint. I could solve this. And solve it I did.

     What got me this beautiful walnut coloring you ask?!? Instant Espresso. No joke. It was one shelf below the tea and I knew it would be much stronger. :) So I forged ahead with my sponge brush and a cup of espresso. Ok, two cups of espresso. One to drink, one to craft with.
      In my many hours of Pinterest browsing, I came upon this cute little graphic. I originally was not sure what I wanted to do with it, but as soon as I found the frames, it was set.

     I printed this out on regular printer paper with my home printer. In order to cut it to the correct size, I laid the image underneath of the frame exactly how I wanted it. From here, I used a pencil to mark the lines of the little semi-circles that lined the OUTSIDE of the inner frame. (If that's confusing, refer back to the first picture...) I basically wanted to make sure I would have enough paper to glue it to the back of the frame. Cutting it down was as simple as pulling out my paper cutter and lining up the marks.
     The final step was to apply some Mod Podge to the back of the frame and line up my picture correctly. After this dried, I added an extra coat of Mod Podge to the paper that was touching the frame as an additional safety measure. The awesome thing about this craft is, it only cost me 99 CENTS! And I still have another frame to be crafty with. I was even very resourceful and used the twine that held the two frames together originally to hang this new art on the front door.

     Here is the final product! I am very pleased with how it turned out. Especially the color (and scent!) of the wood. My brain is already buzzing with ideas for the second frame- so keep your eyes peeled for another craft!
     Have a wonderful sunny Saturday and be well friends. I am enjoying these last few days of summer before school starts up. Then you will get some posts about my organized classroom! Can't wait to show you the theme for this year!
     
                 <3

Garbage Disposal Refreshers

Today's adventure is a Pinterest find thanks to Sarah Lipoff at www.savvysugar.com! I've been eager to try making something to clean and refresh my garbage disposal. With a hubby who loves brussel sprouts, I have found myself wanting a good way to improve the smell wafting from the disposal after a delicious dinner. These little dudes were relatively easy to make and left the whole house smelling lemony fresh!

The ingredients are all items that you would easily find around the house. Perhaps you do not have lemons regularly, but soon we will! Thanks to the mother-in-law and the gift of a small lemon tree! Back to the task: 

I made a double batch, which yielded 100 tablets and had the following measurements. (half it if you don't have a mother who's been asking you for them since you mentioned it!) 

1 1/2 cups baking soda

1 cup salt

1 teaspoon liquid dish soap

2 lemons

sheet pan

teaspoon scooper

tin foil

sealable container

Your first step is to combine the baking soda and salt in a bowl. With a fork, stir it around a bit to make sure both dry ingredients are well mixed with no lumps. Following that, zest your two lemons into the bowl and then add the juice of both lemons along with the dish soap. When you have mixed all ingredients together you should have the texture of lightly damp sand. (YUM) 

What follows is wonderful brainless work that allows you to sing along to music in your kitchen at the same time. (ok, you don't HAVE to do that part) I found the perfect little teaspoon scoop in my drawer to use as a shaping tool for the mixture. You've got to love when something you got years ago, suddenly becomes the PERFECT tool for a task. 

Once you have scooped all of the mixture onto the pan, you can let them dry over night. (You can see my little ones drying in the background) After they have dried over night place them in a sealable container and drop a few in the sink whenever you need a refresher! 

Now, I add this last picture as the humor in my post! After several "walk-bys," the hubby kept insisting they looked like little candies that you should be able to eat. After several confirmations that they were NOT, in fact, candy...he would not be stopped. Front and center you will see the little accidentally large bite he took out of one! SO, just in case you were worried, they are technically edible. Are they tasty? Not at all. Is hubby still alive? Yup, safe and sound! 

Good luck on your own attempts, and good night! 

<3